Evan “Quiet Riot” Lee is heading into the summer break on a high. The 18-year-old boxer graduated this week, and is still basking in the glow of the split-decision loss to Wyatt Douglas.
Yes, a loss, but exciting and not unanimous. His coach Wally Doern of 2 Rivers Boxing Club explains.
“I would say he fought well. As a coach, there is always the constructive criticism to make it better, that’s my job, I have a few things to mention to him he’ll need to work on a little more,” said Doern. “But the thing about this other boxer is, he was a lefty, 6-foot-5 and had about a six-inch longer reach than Evan.”
Douglas, a standout from the LeStage Boxing Club in Parksville, also had a winning streak going against some notable opponents, so this was a strong challenger.
“Evan pursued him, stalked him, the whole fight, slipping punches to get inside, that was the main objective. He’s a good puncher, a good body puncher. He had to get in range. It was a good match. Evan did quite well. He was the aggressor the entire fight.”
“I noticed I needed to make adjustments for his height because of how tall he was,” Lee said. “I couldn’t lead with any punches to his head, but I was able to really unload some power shots to his body because of the length of his torso. Despite the loss, I enjoyed the fight because I was able to really load up on my punches and work on some skills I don’t normally have the opportunity to execute, namely, cutting off the ring against a southpaw with a reach advantage and making mid-fight adjustments to the mechanics of my punches.”
The fight was held at one of B.C.’s premier venues, Griffins Boxing & Fitness in North Vancouver. He had fought there before, and won. In fact, he was on a winning streak before COVID shut boxing down for a couple of years, and Lee sustained an injury as well that kept him out of the competitive ring after that. This was his second fight since all that was put behind him.
“Every amateur fight is a stepping stone and a building block to become either a better person or a better boxer. Win or lose is not the real objective. Of course it’s nice to win, but losing can do good things for you, too,” said Doern.
Lee said he was hoping to get another crack at Douglas, but all boxing aspirations were on hold until he got some forest fires under his belt. His summer job on an initial attack crew will certainly accentuate his fitness and his determination under pressure.
So is this all in aid of being a professional boxer one day? What are his aspirations in the sport?
“I want to give some kind of poetic answer but honestly I just enjoy fighting, and boxing provides an outlet for me to fight against other enthusiastic individuals driven by pursuit of victory,” Lee said. “In the future I would like to fight on a professional stage, not in pursuit of money or anything so candid but just as a logical continuation of my desire to fight better and better people.”
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